What is the safest way to run an executable on Lin

Question

I am trying to run a program compiled from C code from an unknown source. I want to make sure that the program does not harm my system in anyway. Like for instance, the program might have soemthing like system("rm -rf /") in the source, which is un-detectable, unless the code is thoroughly examined.

I thought of the following 2 ways

1. Run it inside a VM like VMWare
2. Build a windows exe on linux and run on wine

Both are not very elegant solutions and I cannot automate them. and also, in case of 1, it can harm the VM.

Any help would be appreciated.

I want to run the program in what we can call a "sandbox".

Answer 1

The wikipedia page for chroot may be a good start. It describes chroot and also provides links to a few, more thorough alternatives.

Answer 2

Create an user that has write access only to non-critical directories. Run the program as that user. If you are also interested in privacy, consider also restricting its read rights.

Answer 3

In addition of other answers, using strace or ltrace may help you to understand what the program is doing.